


Shrike's Watch

by Amatea



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Gen, Short
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-26
Updated: 2018-05-26
Packaged: 2019-05-13 23:33:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14758401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amatea/pseuds/Amatea
Summary: In a video message for Angela, Fareeha gives a first hand account of her capture and interrogation by the vigilante bounty hunter Shrike.





	Shrike's Watch

Wisdom of The Shrike [Working Title]

 

The office chair invites Fareeha to rest her weary bottom, and she partakes with a loud ‘fumf.’ Her eyes stare at the horizon beyond her sight, bagged and bruised and barely functioning. She’s looking at the webcam sitting on the desk in front of her. The starkly circular lens reminds her of a sniper scope, taking aim at her. Parachutes, first aid, and handlebars surround her, a chilling reminder that right now, she’s flying in an Overwatch aerial transport. Fareeha adjusts her gray shirt, still soaked in sweat and sand. Her hair is a mess, black bangs concealing her tattooed eye.

Turbulence snaps Fareeha’s mind out of something. She shakes her head and finds the spacebar on the keyboard. A red light appears over the camera. Her voice trembles a little.

“Hello, Angela,” she says. “It’s 300 hours in Cairo. I lost track of where we are right now, but we’ll be back in Tripoli in no time. Unfortunately, The Anubis weapon program is gone and Shrike is still at large. We lost them again.”

Fareeha looks away from the camera to read from a pile of notes at her side. “Suleiman, Cain and Lena are recovering from their injuries in the med bay. I sent you the charts through your channel. Looks like they’ll be fine, but if you have time, please make sure. You should be familiar with their condition.”

Her stare into camera punctuates a dark cloud shadowing her mood. “They were hit with biotech weaponry, Angela. Your technology. The chemistry matches that of your April 2nd formula according to lieutenant Morales. The Shrike has the biotic rifle you developed with Torbjorn, and they know how to use it.”

Shaking her head, eyes closed, Fareeha sighs in defeat. “It took forever to write up the debrief, but I hope it’s an interesting read, to you especially, Angela. Thanks for teaching me those breathing exercises. I couldn’t have sat down to write without them.” She smiles weakly. "You bless me, Angela." Fareeha leans back in her chair, so far back that her legs snake up onto the table as if she were pleading to a psychotherapist.

“Shamefully, I was even captured by the Shrike. They caught me out of the air, after the rest of our unit was incapacitated. One moment I was hovering over the stone yard outside the Helix building, then I felt a sharp prick between the seams in my suit, and I fell asleep midair. The autopilot caught my fall with the emergency boosters.”

“I regained consciousness a half hour later with the biotic rifle pointed at my head. My hands were bound with hard light restraints. We were alone somewhere in the grove of date palms right next to the Helix headquarters. It was so dark I could barely see in front of me. And my suit was totally shut down. Nothing worked, not even the distress signal. That’s why my vitals were cut off. Were you scared when you saw my EKG go flat?”

Fareeha shivered. “Not this time, I hope.”

“I accepted the dates. At that point, I thought I’d bide my time and wait for backup from Winston. For a couple minutes she fed me dates and asked about my health. It was crazy, Angela. They spoke like they genuinely cared. But I didn’t reciprocate. Certainly, The Shrike was trying to interrogate me. I stayed true to the team and said nothing.”

“It wasn’t long before they gave up asking questions. At that point my strength was coming back, so I tried to struggle free again. To my luck, the lock was poorly secured and I managed to break free. The Shrike caught my hand about to strike their face. My armor was too heavy for me to fight hand to hand, and I was overpowered. They managed to pin me down and get a look at my eye tattoo before sedating me again.”

“How strange. The Shrike pulled my hair back and looked at my eye as I was fading. I watched their glowing mask up close. And then I heard them say something very strange, almost whispered it into my ear, before I passed out.”

“Ana ḥaḥmīk.’ I say that to you all the time, remember? It means I’ll be watching out for you.” Fareeha nods solemnly. “While it’s a strange thing to say to a prisoner, moreover, it confirms our suspicions that Shrike is a local. I could make out the accent. This thief may be a local. We can narrow our search a little.”

Ponderously, Fareeha begins to gather the charts at her side, reorganizing the desk before her. “But our direr questions remain. Why is this Shrike after Helix, Talon and Overwatch? And where will they strike next?”

“Stay safe, habibti.” Fareeha’s eyes shine like stars of hope, a little wet and bloodshot. Her hand reaches up to the camera as if to caress Angela’s cheek. She leaves it there for her viewing lover to savor the moment. “We’re in this together. Pharah out.”

The feed goes black.

 


End file.
